


Kiddie Pool for Eight

by xxELF21xx



Series: battlefield [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Crack, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Not Canon Compliant, Warriors is a Good Big Bro (Linked Universe)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27800413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxELF21xx/pseuds/xxELF21xx
Summary: Quite frankly, the army didn’t prepare him for a lot. But this was fine; after all, it’s just another day in life.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Four & Warriors (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Warriors (Linked Universe), Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe), Sky & Warriors (Linked Universe), Time & Warriors (Linked Universe), Warriors & Wild (Linked Universe), Warriors & Wind (Linked Universe)
Series: battlefield [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995016
Comments: 6
Kudos: 84





	Kiddie Pool for Eight

**Author's Note:**

> my need for big bro wars + babysitter au + crack and fluff = this.

Listen, the week before was downright _tiring._ Monster camps, being tossed into an interdimensional salad, sorting out a misunderstanding between Four and Wind, drawing up a map of Wild’s Hyrule by hand from memory because they were separated -- he’s _tired._ He’s completely _drained._ He _hates_ being a hero, Goddess damn. 

Is it _really_ that difficult to _not_ wake up to screaming or hell on this blessed and loved land of Hyrule? 

No, of course it is. Hylia has more pressing matters on her hands. And so does Legend, apparently, whose screams skyrocket him out of bed with his sword in hand and mind preparing him for blood, loss, war. 

‘Wha- ‘ Twilight’s garbled good morning is shushed in magnificent flails of Legend’s arms and he looked more like a deranged cucco than an orderly hero. The rancher tries to ask again, but gets shushed and a sharp finger poking into Time’s bedroll. 

Wind, the one closest to their leader, throws him a puzzled look before going over to investigate. As soon as the teen takes a peek though, he’s immediately propelled back with wide eyes and panic. Hissing, their lovable pirate is barely recognisable, ‘Time is _missing!’_

The statement causes a barely concealed panic, with Twilight rushing over to confirm the truth. Legend’s words aren’t working, Hyrule and Sky helping him calm down while Four and Wild carefully circle around them, eyebrows pinched.

With a troubled smile, he pats the duo on the back and sends them to pack up as much of camp as possible, a strategy forming in his half-baked head. Skirting around the disaster trio, he stops right in front of Twilight. 

‘You doing alright?’

Twilight opens his mouth, closes it, opens it, and sighs; dragging a hand over his hair, he releases a stressed sound and points helplessly at the tiny bundle in Time’s sheets. ‘He’s just… _not there!’_

A foot kicks out of the blanket, startling them. There’s something familiar about the crescent mark at the definitely-a-child’s ankle. It’s… 

‘What do you mean he’s _not here?’_ Warriors balks, lifting the gremlin’s ankle to get a closer look at the birthmark -- yes, that’s _definitely_ him. ‘He’s right here. The _kid.’_

All at once, shrieks burst across the forest clearing, scaring away birds and monsters alike. 

Waking up as a nine-year-old child is quite the prank, especially when said nine-year-old only recognises one out of eight faces. 

It’s to everybody but his surprise that Young Link dives behind him after jumping awake at the unholy noise. Horrified that the kid is actively trying to scale him like a tree, Warriors carefully yanks him off and offers his body as a shield. 

_‘WHY IS YOUR SPAWN HERE?’_ Ah, Legend finally found his words. Sky and Hyrule, unfortunately, choose this time to tackle the man and place a hand each over his lips, preventing the veteran from ruining Young Link’s already pathetic-enough innocence. 

_‘My_ spawn?’ He should be offended, really, but this whole situation is just funny enough to be his type of humour. ‘What made you think I had a part in the creation of Time? How would the timelines work, then?’ 

Twilight and Sky turn seven shades paler, eyes drawn to the tiny figure desperately clinging onto his scarf. 

‘No… ‘ Wind breathes, and he wonders if the sailor’s upset that someone else has a monopoly over his scarf or if it’s genuine horror. 

Young Link whimpers, fed up with all the unwanted attention and gawking, glaring at him to _do something, you twat!_

How innocent and scared the gremlin would look to others who didn’t know any better, Warriors sighs. ‘Alright, enough of this, you’re making him angry. Stop staring, quit whining, start packing up. We’ll ask Zelda.’ 

_Zelda,_ he prays, _may the Goddess give you the strength you need._

Unluckily for him, they were in his Hyrule. And everyone knew just how _splendidly_ Young Link and Zelda got along with each other. 

(His words have absolutely no effect on Legend, irritating everyone with mutterings and mess of parchments with inkblots of previous iterations of the proper ascension of Links.

He prays that Zelda has an answer to this, or he’d be in hell for the next few weeks.)

Wild and Four are the calmest of the crew, surprising enough. 

‘At least he’s not missing,’ Wild shrugs, asking the kid if he’s got any allergies. Young Link considers the question for a moment before beaming and shaking his head. 

‘Someone has to stay calm, and you look a step away from losing it,’ Four pats his back, a silent wish of good luck. 

‘He’s actually lactose intolerant, don’t let him have any milk or cheese.’ 

‘He’s _what?!’_

Young Link pouts, pulling his scarf off as retribution. A small price to pay, considering he doesn’t have any pills to help the kid through the awful tummy aches.

(‘Will you _please_ wear your shoes?’ He begs, the lack of sleep making him crankier than usual. He's never been more thankful that his magic still worked outside of boosting his combat. Finding clothes or shoes that fit Young Link would cause all of Hyrule to speculate if he'd taken a wife, and that was a problem he's never going to be prepared for.

Adamantly, their respectable hero of Time refuses, running off to Twilight and signing a mile a minute about this “new game” he learnt.

Twilight is apparently still stuck in his existential crisis, getting dragged into an elaborate, impromptu prank and getting himself drenched in mud.

Feeling bad, Warriors shoves the rancher into the nearest lake, letting the kid run himself ragged in the meantime.

He silently mourns the loss of his scarf, which had once again fallen into terrible hands.)

As expected, the guards permit everyone but Young Link -- who’d fallen asleep in his arms with a complete monopoly over his scarf now -- into the castle. 

‘How do you even know him?’ gets ignored in favour of ‘what did Time do to get this sort of treatment?’ He couldn’t even _begin_ to answer that.

Ignoring all the questions, Warriors casts the guards a look that would usually be absolutely frightening, but a drooling child in his arms does very little to appear menacing. ‘Young Link is strictly with me, he won’t be any trouble.’ 

At the very least, his men still remember how well-behaved Young Li-- okay, that name is getting annoying again, _Mask_ is with him. 

Zelda, however, knows him _too_ well. With a critical eye, she asks if he would be able to make sure Mask doesn’t get in too much trouble -- because everyone knew that a zero trouble Mask was impossible. 

‘I won’t be hearing of any castle-wide pranks and playfights?’ Blue eyes dance with mirth and slight annoyance as Warriors flushes, clearing his throat. 

‘No, Your Highness. I’ll do my best to make sure he doesn’t get in too much trouble.’ Impa turns her head away, hiding a smile. ‘I mean it this time.’ 

‘As long as you know what you’re doing, Link.’ Then, with a mischievous smile, she says, ‘I wonder if your companions are acquainted with your precious Young Link.’ 

He’s sure Twilight is about to pass out, the poor rancher repeating _precious_ hoarsely while Four wacks him across the back to make sure he remembers to breathe. Wind wails, displeased. 

_‘Zelda.’_

She dares to laugh! 

Impa chooses this moment to completely destroy any serious reputation he has in the eyes of their merry band. ‘Shall I remind you of how terrifying you were when you heard that something as minor as Young Link waking up on the wrong side of bed? Or perhaps how you’d often let him do as he wishes and cause our men’s morale to fall so low that Volga dropped by for a friendly visit to inquire if we were doing alright?’ 

At least she took Time down with him. 

‘Just _what_ is happening?!’ 

Oh, dearest Dn, it seems like Twilight finally snapped.

**Author's Note:**

> warriors lives in missouri, (s)pain.


End file.
